Embracing Pain

   Who but a masochist would wish to embrace pain ? Isn't it natural to crave pleasure and to run away from what is noxious ? Strangely, experience has taught me that fleeing from pain may not be the best thing to do and might even be unhealthy in the long run. Pain ought to be seen as a symptom of a deeper malaise. Just as physical pain indicates that something is wrong with the body, so does psychological suffering point towards a void in the psyche.
    If one were to suppress physical pain by taking a palliative while leaving the core cause untouched, the problem from which the pain springs would only worsen till it ends up doing grave damage. Similarly escaping psychological pain by any kind of medication or intoxication or even through suppression wouldn't purge the heart of the demons that are assailing its depth. Confronting the demons that make one's life  a living hell might be unbearably taxing but it is also truly therapeutic in the long run. Indeed, confronting pain can even give one access to hitherto hidden aspects of one's personality.
      At times accepting pain wholeheartedly and even succumbing to it in its totality is the best thing one can do for one's self growth. If accepted as a valid rhythm of life, pain works its alchemy and transforms the psyche into a more mature and mellow force.